Football Espana
·19 November 2024
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Yahoo sportsFootball Espana
·19 November 2024
Spain and Osasuna winger Bryan Zaragoza was the star of the show for La Roja when he came on against Switzerland on Monday night, and he did not stop being the protagonist after the final whistle.
Zaragoza, who is on loan from Bayern Munich, came on for the final half hour as Spain were 2-1 up against the Swiss side, and gave away a penalty with five minutes to go to allow Andi Zeqiri to equalise. However he had been tantalising defenders every time he got the ball, and in stoppage time, won his own penalty, which he picked up and scored.
After the game, he was interviewed by Cadena SER.
“Football is played with your feet, not with the language,” Zaragoza began. “I never lack the desire to represent my country. I was on the bench, I wanted to eat up the pitch, and I have shown it. My game is based on dribbling and every time I have the ball I try to do so. Taking the penalty was a show of personality,” he noted.
This has largely been interpreted as a shot at England manager Thomas Tuchel. The former Bayern Munich manager was in charge of Zaragoza last January when the tricky winger arrived from Granada, but barely saw minutes under him, hence his loan to Osasuna. When asked why, Tuchel gave the following response.
“He doesn’t understand the language. Both German and English are difficult for him, and that is basic. We brought forward the signing [from the summer] to save time with this. I knew it would be a very big step for him.”
Zaragoza has been in fine form back in Spain, and has a goal and 5 assists in his 13 appearances this season at El Sadar. Only Raphinha (8), Lamine Yamal (7) and Vinicius Junior (6) have more than him this season in that regard. He also put Barcelona to the sword earlier in the season.